Untouched
by AThousandTimesMore
Summary: I'm not talking about the physical changes. I'm talking about the changes on the inside. The changes you don't see with your eyes, but with your heart. Liley one-shot


_**Enjoy!!!**_

Lilly sat on her bed reading _The Scarlet Letter_ by Nathaniel Hawthorne for her English class, wondering if there was a more boring book in the world. Her English teacher picked out the worst books, in her opinion, for class assignments. First it was _Huckleberry Finn_, then it was _Walden_, and now this. She sighed as she got to the bottom of the page and realized that she hadn't taken in anything that she had read. Going back to the top of the page, she started it again.

Finally, after twenty minutes of reading the same page over and over again, she threw the book down on her bed and rolled onto the floor, landing with a _thud_. "Why did I do that?" she muttered to herself, rubbing her head as she stood up slowly, stumbling around when everything got dizzy. "Stupid book."

There was a knock on the door and it cracked open. "Lilly, are you almost finished with your homework? You know you can't go over to Miley's house if you don't have it finished."

Miley, best friend of Lilly for seven, almost eight, years, and girlfriend of Lilly for two years. She was probably doing the same thing as Lilly at that moment: attempting to read _The Scarlet Letter_. Actually, she most likely was reading it because she liked the book, as she had told Lilly multiple times. Lilly groaned and fell back on her bed.

"Can't I just go over and ask her for help?" she moaned, throwing an arm over her face. "She understands this stuff way better than I do. And I can't even get through a page of this without wanting to fall asleep."

"Lilly, you're in your senior year of high school," her mom said in a scolding voice. "You're not always going to have someone to run to like this. I want you to finish your homework, then, and only then, are you allowed to go over to Miley's house. How many chapters do you have left to read of your book for English?"

"Three more," Lilly groaned, picking the book up.

"Well, I suggest you get going, then."

The door closed and Lilly sighed, flipping through the book until she got to the page that she left off at. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. It was a nice, bright Saturday, and she was stuck inside doing homework. She had all the rotten luck in the world.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and it burst open to reveal Lilly's mom, her cell phone clutched tightly in her hand. "Lillian, we have to go," she said urgently.

"What's wrong?" Lilly asked, throwing her book down on her bed and getting up quickly. Her mom never used her full first name unless she was angry or there was something seriously wrong. "Mom, what happened?"

"Just get in the car, I'll explain on the way," her mom said.

Lilly slipped a pair of flip flops on her feet and hurried out of her bedroom and to the car after her mom. Her mom pulled backwards out of the driveway before Lilly was even buckled, which never happened. "Mom, what's going on?"

"It's Miley," her mom said, and Lilly's heart dropped to her feet. "She got in a car accident. Her father called me and told me that they're at the Malibu Area Hospital. She's in surgery right now and they have no idea how she's doing. He said that he was going to call Oliver after he got off the phone with me."

But Lilly didn't hear anything beyond the first two sentences. Miley had been in a car accident. Images flashed through Lilly's mind. Miley spread-eagled on the road with a pool of blood surrounding her broken body. Sitting unconscious in her car, the side smashed in and Miley's head bleeding profusely. Her body halfway through the windshield because she had forgotten to wear her seatbelt.

Then they were at the hospital and Lilly's mom was talking to the person at the front desk. She put an arm around Lilly's shoulders, leading her to the elevators. There was a sobbing woman in the elevator, clutching a wad of tissues tightly in her hand as a young man, presumably her son, whispered in her ear. His eyes were sad. A little girl asked her father where her mommy was and he replied that she was being taken care of for a little while because she wasn't feeling good.

It seemed like Lilly had been instantly transported from that elevator to a waiting area where children sat in front of a TV, watching _Arthur_, parents slumped in chairs, hands pressed to temples as they struggled to hold back tears, husbands and wives nervously played with their wedding rings, and a group of people Lilly recognized were gathered in the corner.

Mr. Stewart was sitting in a chair, his eyes closed, hands clasped together, and his lips moving silently. Jackson was staring up at the ceiling, obviously trying to keep tears from streaming down his face. Oliver was talking with his girlfriend, Sarah, who was openly sobbing. Mr. and Mrs. Oaken were standing together, talking anxiously.

"Has the doctor come out yet?" Lilly's mom asked as she approached the Mr. and Mrs. Oaken. Everyone looked at them and Lilly immediately felt the pitying glances everyone was giving her. Oliver started forward, but Lilly shook her head and took a step back, tripping over a chair and landing on the ground. Everyone looked at her in surprise, unsure of what to do, until Lilly finally burst into tears.

Jackson suddenly got up, walked over to Lilly, sat down next to her, and put his arms around her as she cried. She buried her face in his shoulder, letting the tears overtake her, her sobs wracking her body.

"Lilly, honey, Miley wants to see you."

It was dark outside and Lilly realized that she had been crying for the past couple hours. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and grabbed some tissues from the small table next to one of the chairs, blowing her nose. "Okay," she whispered.

The waiting room was nearly empty when Lilly looked around. The TV had been changed to the weather channel and the children had left. A young man who looked like he was in his twenties was sitting in the corner of the room, slumped forward in his chair and staring blankly at the floor. Oliver and Sarah had left along with Mr. and Mrs. Oaken. Her mom was sitting in front of the TV with Mr. Stewart, talking softly. Jackson was standing next to Lilly, motioning for her to follow the nurse who had come to tell her Miley wanted to see her.

"Has…has her dad seen her yet?" Lilly asked the nurse as she was led through a doorway and down a white, sterile hallway. It was quiet, the steady beeping of machines coming out of open doors and soft words being exchanged between loved ones.

"Yes, but she asked to see you first," the nurse said, looking over her shoulder to smile kindly at Lilly. "We have a policy here that the parent or guardian is the first person to see the patient, if the parent or guardian is available."

"Okay," Lilly whispered. They stopped in front of a closed door and the nurse looked at Lilly worriedly.

"She…she may look a little different, now, but she's the same person," the nurse said gently. "Treat her like you would treat anyone else, okay? A lot of patients…well, their loved ones treat them like they're different and it only hurts them more than it helps them. She's the same person."

"I know," Lilly said quietly, looking down at her feet. The nurse reached out and knocked on the door gently, turning the handle and opening it slowly. She motioned for Lilly to go in and the blonde tentatively stepped forward, raising her head and dreading what she was going to see in that hospital room.

Miley was lying on the bed, a bandage wrapped around her head, covering her forehead and her left eye. One of her legs was propped up and wrapped in white bandages and Lilly could see a brace on her neck and the outline of a bulky brace on the brunette's torso underneath the sheets. She ventured forward slowly, sitting down and staring at Miley, who had her one visible eye closed.

"Lilly?" Miley whispered, startling the blonde.

"Yeah, it's me," Lilly said, her voice cracking as tears starting to pool in her eyes.

"Can…can you…?" Miley asked, and Lilly noticed that the brunette was holding her right hand out, searching for Lilly's hand. The blonde gently took her girlfriend's hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing Miley's hand lightly.

"How's that?" she whispered.

"Better," Miley whispered. "Do you…do you know what the doctor said? Did you hear him talking to my dad?"

"No, I was…I didn't hear, I'm sorry," Lilly whispered.

"Do you…do you think I'm ugly?" Miley asked, her voice breaking. She bit her lip as she waited for Lilly to answer, tears starting to trickle down her face.

Lilly stared at her, eyes wide. "Of course not," she said with conviction. "You're the most beautiful person on the face of the earth. What would make you think that I would think that you're ugly?"

"Will you leave me if I don't look like I did before?" Miley whimpered.

"Get that out of your mind right now," Lilly said. "I'm never, ever going to leave with you, no matter what. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life, face it. I know that you might want to get rid of me, but it's never going to happen, so you might as well just give up right now."

Miley laughed through a sob and Lilly smiled slightly, bringing the brunette's hand to her lips and kissing it gently. "Miles, you're gorgeous, and nothing is ever going to change that," Lilly continued softly. "On the outside and the inside. I love you more than life itself and I would never even think about leaving you. You're my life, Miles. I don't think I could ever live without you."

"I love you," Miley whispered.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Lilly's phone rang and she practically jumped on it, her heart beating hard in her chest when she saw that it was Mr. Stewart, not Miley. That meant that it was something bad. She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat and pressed her phone in her ear, waiting breathlessly for Mr. Stewart to tell her that Miley was okay and that he was just calling to give an update.

"Hey, Lilly, can you come to the hospital? Miley needs you," he said.

"Is she…is she…?" Lilly started, afraid to ask the question. _Is she dying?_

"No, she's going to be fine," Mr. Stewart said. "Well, she's not going to die, but…I'll explain when you get here, okay? But she's been asking for you and no one can get her to stop crying."

"I'm on my way," Lilly said, already heading downstairs to the garage. She called her mom, who was at work, to leave her a message telling her that she was going to the hospital and that she'd call later when she found out what was going on. Twenty minutes later, she was in the hospital walking the familiar path to Miley's room.

Mr. Stewart was standing outside the door with the doctor, talking to him with a worried expression on his face. They both stopped talking when Mr. Stewart turned and saw Lilly. "Go on in, she's waiting for you," he said quickly. "I'll just be a few minutes, okay?"

Nodding, Lilly turned the handle of the door and walked into the room to find Miley lying on the bed, tears streaming down her face. Lilly rushed forward, kneeling on the floor next to her bed and taking her hand in her own. "Miles, what's wrong?" she asked. "Honey, please, tell me what's going on."

"The doctor…he said…" Miley started, sobbing. "He said…my legs…I won't…"

"Oh my God," Lilly whispered, her eyes widening as she realized what Miley was trying to see. Suddenly all the pieces fit together. Whenever Lilly asked, Miley always said that there was a dull, throbbing pain everywhere except below her waist. She could never feel anything below her waist. "Miley, I'm so sorry…"

"Do you know what this means?" Miley asked. "No more Hannah."

"Miles…"

"No, don't talk to me."

"I love you," Lilly whispered.

Miley didn't say anything.

* * *

Two weeks later, Lilly was sitting in Miley's hospital room, watching the brunette sleep. Ever since she found out that she was never going to walk again, Miley had barely spoken a word. Her recovery had slowed and almost halted. Lilly had been there, once, when the nurses were changing the bandages. The brunette had extensive damage almost everywhere on her body.

There was a large scrape across her forehead and on the right side of her face down to just below her eye. Her torso was covered in stitched-up scratches and her right leg had received the brunt of the impact, along with her back. Miley's spinal cord had been partially severed, which prevented her from ever walking again. She had to wear a brace on her neck and her back in order to prevent her from damaging her spinal cord any further.

Miley's eyes suddenly opened and Lilly leaned forward, concern in her eyes. "Hey, how're you feeling?" she whispered.

"A lot better," Miley said.

Lilly looked at her in surprise. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," Miley whispered, meeting Lilly's eyes. "I've decided that I'm not going to mope around anymore. Things could be a lot worse. I could be dead. So I'm going to do what I'm able to do. I can still play the piano and the guitar, I can still sing, and I can still write music. And I'm going to put those things to use. You're still here with me."

"I always will be," Lilly whispered.

"I know," Miley said, her eyes sparkling. "Thank you."

* * *

"Welcome home," Mr. Stewart said as Lilly pushed Miley's wheelchair into the living room of her house. A banner that had 'Welcome Home, Miley' was hanging from the ceiling along with several streamers. Balloons had been blown up with helium and were floating above their heads. Oliver, Sarah, Mr. and Mrs. Oaken, Lilly's mom, and Jackson were sitting in the living room, gathered around a large cake.

"Thanks, guys!" Miley said, a big smile growing on her face. "This is great!"

"Hey, we're just glad that you're home," Oliver said, walking forward and hugging her gently. She still had her neck and back brace on, along with the bandages on her leg, although the bandages on her head had been disposed of. She hugged him back and smiled at him as he pulled away.

"I've got a surprise for you guys," Miley said. "Daddy, did you set it up?"

Mr. Stewart nodded. "Saturday," he said.

"I'm doing a goodbye concert for Hannah Montana," Miley said.

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked. "I'm confused, how can you be doing a goodbye concert for Hannah? First of all, you aren't Hannah. Second, Hannah disappeared a while ago. No one knows…where…she…is…" Sarah looked at her with wide eyes. "You're Hannah Montana."

"In person," Miley said.

"Wait, won't people figure out that you're Hannah Montana the same way Sarah just did?" Lilly's mom asked.

"Yeah, that's why I'm just going to tell them that I'm Hannah Montana at the concert," Miley said. "It's going to be a lot bigger if someone else figures it out and tells the world, so I might as well just do it myself. And Lilly and I have already discussed what's going to happen when they figure out that I'm in a relationship with another girl. We're going to take everything one step at a time."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lilly's mom asked, looking more at Lilly than she did at Miley.

"Yes, I'm positive," Lilly said. "Miley deserves to have this. Besides, why should I be afraid of telling the world that I love Miley?"

"It's more than that…" her mom said.

"I know, Mom, but I'm not going to let other people's opinions get in the way of who I love," Lilly said, cutting her mom off. "And I love Miley. Not letting her do this would be admitting to everyone out there that I'm afraid of what they think about me. I love her, and I want her to have this."

"If you're sure," she said doubtfully.

"I'm positive."

* * *

Lilly, or rather, Lola, stood beside Miley, dressed as Hannah, and stared out at the crowd yelling and screaming for Hannah Montana. This was it. The last time they would be able to back out of this. Then they would have no control over what happened. She looked down at Miley, who nodded to her. She had taken the neck brace off for this occasion.

"Let's do this," Miley said softly. She tightly clutched the guitar that was laying in her lap and Lilly gripped the handles of her wheelchair, pushing her forward onto the stage. The whole stadium went silent as Lilly walked forward, pushing Miley. She could feel a hundred thousand pairs of eyes on her, but she kept walking. The time for backing out was over.

"Hey, guys," Miley said, speaking into the microphone headset that she was wearing. "I know it's surprising to see me like this, but bear with me, okay? I've still got some music and I'm gonna sing. I just wanna explain everything first."

"Do you want me to stay here?" Lilly murmured in Miley's ear. Miley shook her head yes.

"First of all, you all know Lola Luftnagle," she said, gesturing to Lilly. "As you know, she's my best friend. And she was there for me when I went through a hard time. You see, four months ago, I got in a car accident."

Lilly's eyes widened. Miley hadn't said anything about the actual car accident to anyone. She may have come to terms with the fact that she couldn't walk, but she still didn't want to talk about what had happened. This would be the first time. Ever.

"I was stopped at a red light that was about to turn green when a car at the intersection lost control and crashed into my car," Miley said. She closed her eyes, as if she was reliving the memory. "The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed with wires hooked up to me and half my body wrapped in bandages. I found out that my spinal cord had been partially severed and I would never be able to walk again."

She opened her eyes, looking out at the crowd. "For two weeks, I tried to do everything to feel something in my legs. I prayed, I begged, I told the doctors I would be willing to pay any amount of money if I could just walk again," she said. "I tried to bargain with God, telling him that he could take anything if I could just get my ability to walk back. He could take my ability to sing, my ability to play music, my ability to do _this_ if I could only walk again. Needless to say, it didn't work."

There was complete silence. Everyone was staring at Miley and Lilly, or rather, Hannah and Lola. Lilly didn't know where Miley was going with this. She looked over at the wings of the stage and saw that Mr. Stewart looked just as confused as she felt. It seemed like the only person who knew where Miley was going with this was Miley herself.

"But then I realized something," Miley said softly. "I realized…that I can still sing. I can still write. I can still play music. I can still _perform_. And there are things that I have right now that I would never, ever want to give up. But there's one thing that I have to give up right now, if I want to keep everything else. And that's Hannah. You see, I'm not who you think I am. I'm not Hannah Montana, international pop star, the blonde bombshell that the news always rattles on about. I mean, I am, but that's not who I really am."

She reached up to her wig and slowly pulled it off, revealing that her normal auburn locks had been tied up in a messy bun. Everyone seemed to gasp at the same time, a hundred thousand people sucking in air. Lilly thought that all the oxygen would be sucked from the air and they would all suffocate, but when she sucked in air, she didn't pass out. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing Miley, not Hannah, up on a stage, talking to a hundred thousand people.

"My name is Miley Stewart," she said. "And I've been living a double-life for the past eight years. Ever since fifth grade, and now I'm a senior in high school. Don't get me wrong, I love this life, performing for people, touring the country and giving concerts, meeting all my fans, but sometimes I just want to get away from it all. Live a normal life. Yeah, my dad still makes me do chores and I've always thought that other pop stars are lucky cause they can just tell someone else to clean everything up."

That earned a laugh from the audience and Lilly could feel the tension in the air starting to dissipate.

"The reason I have to give up Hannah is because she's something I'm not," Miley said. "She's a performer. She can sing and dance and move around, and those are things that I can't do. I'm someone different, now, and I'll never be Hannah again. So today, I'm officially retiring her. Sure, I'll still sing her songs and occasionally I might throw on the wig just for kicks, but she's gone. Today, _I_ stand, or, rather, sit, before you. Not Hannah. Not someone who's ready to dress up and perform in order to impress you. It's just me. Just ol' Miley, plain as day. I'm not trying to impress you. I'm just trying to tell you the truth."

She looked up at Lilly and their eyes connected, an unspoken message passing between the two of them. Lilly nodded and looked out at the crowd, knowing what she had to do. Reaching up to her head, she ran her hands through her bright pink wig and thought that this could be the last moment that she would ever have as Lola. And with that final thought, she gently pulled on the wig, letting her blonde hair fall out onto her shoulders. Then she pulled the microphone out of the stand to her right.

"Hi, guys," she said. "Yeah, um, I'm obviously not anyone…I don't have…I'm not cut out for this kind of thing, as you can see." There were a couple laughs and she smiled out at the audience. "And, um, I'm not Lola Luftnagle, either. Sometimes I wish I were cause she has some really cute clothes and I love the different hair colors. Although I do wish that people would stop calling me a walking highlighter." More laughs.

Lilly glanced at Miley and the brunette nodded. "Yeah, um, there's…there's something that we want to tell you before people who know us go around telling everyone," Lilly said. "Miley…she's been my best friend ever since I met her. And over the years, we've become closer and closer to each other until we realized that our friendship had evolved into something more. You see…I began to fall for my best friend."

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. "I was scared," she whispered. "And you can't imagine how hard this is to tell over a hundred thousand people, not counting everyone who's watching this on TV or on the internet." There were a couple more nervous laughs. "But I watched my best friend for three years after I figured out that I wanted her as more than a friend. Finally, I got the guts to ask her out."

The blonde smiled and opened her eyes. "And she said yes," she said, and there was cheering and clapping and whistling. "I have to say that Miley has been the most amazing girlfriend in the world over the past two years, and the best friend I could ever have in the past eight years. There's no one else in the world I would rather be with right now. Sorry, Orlando." A wave of laughter rolled over the audience. She looked back at Miley, seeing the laughter shining in the brunette's eyes, and knew that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Miley and Lilly sat on a blanket on the beach, watching the waves crash into the sand as the moon slowly rose over the ocean. Lilly put an arm around Miley's shoulder as the brunette leaned into her, burying her face in Lilly's neck. "Everything is going to be okay, isn't it?" Miley mumbled. "Even though…even though I'm not the same, it's all going to be okay."

"You know that first day you were in the hospital?" Lilly whispered, and Miley nodded. "I was so scared because I was afraid that you wouldn't be the same Miley that I knew before. When the nurse was taking me to your hospital, she said not to treat you any differently because you were still the same person. And you know what? She was wrong. You changed."

"What are you saying?" Miley asked, fear lacing her voice and flashing in her eyes as she looked up at Lilly. "Are you…?"

"Shhh, no, let me finish," Lilly said gently. "Getting in that car accident changed you, whether you want to admit it or not. I'm not talking about the physical changes." She traced the scar on Miley's face and kissed it gently. "I'm talking about the changes on the inside. The changes you don't see with your eyes, but with your heart." She placed a gentle hand on Miley's chest.

"What you've gone through in the past year has changed you for the better," she whispered. "You're a different person. You're stronger, more confident, and you're happier than you were before, believe it or not. It's like…it's like…"

"Do you want to know what I was thinking right after that car crashed into me?" Miley whispered, and Lilly nodded nervously. "I was thinking that you were the most amazing person in the whole world and how you were always perfect for me. And how I never showed you how much I loved you. I was so afraid of losing you, Lilly, of leaving before I got to show you that. I prayed and prayed and prayed for God to let me live so I could tell you. Anything, I told him, anything. He could have anything in the world if he would just let me live."

She wiped away a tear trailing down Lilly's cheek with her thumb. "And then there was this bright light and there was this guy standing there in swimming trunks and a t-shirt. He said that if that was what I wanted then I was going to have to give something up. That I would learn from the experience," she whispered, kissing Lilly lightly on the nose. "I said yes. And he said that he loved me very much and that you loved me very much and to always remember that.

"When I found out that I would never be able to walk again, I had dismissed that man from my mind. I thought that it was just a hallucination. Then, two weeks later, I realized…he gave me a chance. A chance to see you, to talk to you, to _live_ with you. And I was so happy because…because I would have died," she said quietly. "Lilly, I can't tell you how…how grateful I am. I get to see you every day and talk to you and tell you how much I love you and there are people out there who never had that chance…"

"Oh my God," Lilly cried, wrapping her arms around Miley and pulling her close. "God, why didn't you tell me? Miley, I…God, I love you so much. You…oh my God."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she gripped Miley tightly. When she opened her eyes, she saw a young man dressed in swimming trunks and a t-shirt smiling at them. He smiled at her, but when she blinked, he was gone. Lilly didn't know if she had just been imagining things or if he was really there.

"Yes," she whispered, remembering the original question that had started the whole conversation. "Everything is going to be okay."

When they finally let go of each other, the moon had risen fully and the stars were twinkling high in the sky. Miley leaned into Lilly.

"You know, it's nice to know that some things don't change," she whispered.

Lilly looked up at the full moon. Completely untouched. "Yeah," she whispered. "I know exactly what you mean."

_**Well, there you go. I'm not sure if I like this. It took me time, and a lot of card games on my laptop, to get this out. (Don't ever, ever, EVER get addicted to stupid computer games like that. It sucks, cause you want to write something but you need to play the game then…never mind, just don't get addicted.) But, originally, this was based off a picture of a sunset. A prompt I found on a website. And I totally veered off, but I don't know. Tell me what you think. I might have another one-shot up by tomorrow, maybe even tonight if I can stop playing computer games. Oh, and I might being doing a second part to this, or a sequel or something. Depends on the feedback I get and how I feel about it. For now, I'm going to mark this as a complete story and say it's a one-shot, but I'm just telling you I might come back to it. It depends. Thank you all for reading and please review.**_

_**AThousandTimesMore**_


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